Jiraiya talked when he was drunk. Naruto noticed this fairly early into their training trip, and because of it he learned a lot about the old Sage. He learned about dreams the white haired man had once had, the family he had wanted but never gotten around to having, things he had done, things he regretted, things he was proud of, and most important of all, he learned about his old students. More times than ever, when the man was intoxicated, he would mistake Naruto for the Yondaime. Through Jiraiya, he learned things about the man's life that the textbooks would never had taught him. He would tell him things that he probably would have never known. Talk to him as if he were the man himself.

Some times, he would think it was October 10 again, and the Kyuubi was attacking. "Minato," the drunk man would often say to him, slurring his words and grasping the front of his shirt, "You don't know what you're doin, sealin the Kyuubi inta Naru-chan! You ga your whole life in fronta ya! He'll be alone and hated. Ya should be with 'im! Do ya really wanta leave 'im all alone in the world?"

Other times, he thought he was talking to his old student from beyond the grave. "Minato, guess what! Naru-chan mastered your Rasengan in a week and it took you three years! The boys a genius, definitely takes after you! At first I thought that the only thing beneath that deceptive mop of blonde hair lurked a brain devoted to pranks, fighting, ramen and making obscene amounts of noise far too early in the morning. Though he was just brash, loud, rarely thought ahead and had almost nothing in terms of book smarts. Then he went and pulled that and I'm so proud. Like I'm with my grandchild! It doesn't hurt that he looks just like you!"

Something the teen had found out about the pervert that made him see him differently: he'd never managed to learn to fall out of love. After all, he had been trying to go that one alone. Fifty-some years, and he still hadn't been able to teach himself that one simple, essential thing that would make his life so much easier. 'Just don't love her. Just marry someone else before you're too old, buddy, just pick someone and have some kids.' But the Sannin considered himself a stupid, romantic old fool. He had wanted to marry for love. In his opinion, it was too bad she wouldn't ever love him.

He never talked during them. If he did, it tipped Jiraiya off that who he was talking to wasn't who he though it was and shut him up. So he didn't talk.

The drunken conversations were how he had learned the name of his father, of his parents, the fact that Jiraiya was his godfather and had made a promise to look after him. It was also how he knew why Jiraiya had stayed away from Konoha, for the most part. It wasn't the information gathering, it was the fact that if he came home he would have to face so many problems and so many people.

The old perv didn't know what happened when he was hammered. He didn't ask and Naruto didn't tell. It was a mutual agreement between the two of them. He woke up with a killer headache the next morning, demanded that he quiet down, and would give him insane workouts to do. But the blonde never complained. He just kept his mouth shut and went over everything he learned.

What the perv also didn't know, is that while he was out drinking and performing "research", or peeking in the local bath houses, Naruto was training. He had went through Jiraiya's bag and found a scroll addressed to him. It was in a writing he hadn't known and he had opened it to find a letter from his father. It's writing was faded and blurred in some places, as if the writer had been crying when it was written. It had read:

Dear Naruto,

If you are reading this, than you know who you are and what you hold. Please know that this isn't what was suppose to happen. Your mother, Uzumaki Kushina, and I were so looking forward to raising you. Both of us were orphans, and we didn't want the same for you. I can only hope my last request was honored, and you are seen as the hero you truly are for holding back the evil beast… What am I saying? Knowing the village, they'll see you as the monster… all I can say is do your best always and show them you are you, not Kyuubi.

I suppose you want to know why I chose you to hold this burden. Son, I chose you to carry Kyuubi because I cannot ask another parent to do what I'm not willing to do myself. Because you are the only one who could do it. I believe in you… That you can learn to control it and use it's power for the good of the village. There is another reason as well. The information is based off of something I learned the day you were born. There was a mastermind behind the Kyuubi's attack. He was controlling it with a genjutsu. He is quiet a formidable shinobi, someone you'll need extraordinary strength to fight against. I believe he will attach again. He is the orange masked shinobi… beware of him…

I have several regrets about this choice. I'll miss everything. Your first steps, your first words, your first prank, your first day at the academy, your graduation, team placements, Chunnin Exam, your wedding, the day you become Hokage after me... Everything your mother and I were looking forward to when we found out we were expecting you. And there is also the fact that you might end up hating me…

Naruto, always know you are loved. Now and forever, you are loved. At the bottom of the letter, you will find two blood seals. Inside one are some personal items of your mother's and mine. In the other, you will find instructions on the Kekkei Genkai of the Uzumaki clan, my two jutsu, the Rasengan and the Hirashin, and the book I wrote on Fuuinjutsu. Don't worry about the Fuuinjutsu… it's a hard subject for most people unless they have a good teacher. Although, you might have already started on it if Jiraiya-sensei is looking after you like he promised. He is your godfather after all. His first book is in the seals as well. You were named after the main character. Your mother and I fell in love with him and so hope you are like him.

I'll love you always,

Your Father,

Namikaze Minato

Konoha's Yellow Flash

And the Yondaime Hokage

In the seals, he had found the techniques, as he had been told, and the personal items. Included were his father's Hokage cloak, a short-sleeve long white coat with red flame edges and the kanji "Fourth Hokage" written vertically down on the back, his hitai-ate, a pouch of the special kunai for Hirashin, a barrette his father had given his mother on their wedding day, the book entitled 'Tales of a Gutsy Shinobi', which he knew was Jiraiya's first book, and his parents wedding rings.

He had quickly started reading the two books. He found the Fuuinjutsu came to his easily, which was weird cause he sucked at bookwork. While the subject confused most people enough to were they only had a base understanding of it, the lines and symbols made more sense to him than any textbook ever had. He also read Jiraiya's book. It wasn't a romantic book, or remotely perverted like all his other works. It was a tale of the life of a single shinobi, trying to bring peace to the world. It had completely flopped in the market when it was released; it barely sold a thousand copies, whereas the Icha-Icha series sold millions. But he found he loved it, much like his father had. The copy he had was dark green with a worn out spine, clearly showing that it had been read many times. It was his fathers copy.

Unfortunately for Naruto his father had left very few notes on just what exactly the Hiraishin was or how it worked. The notes were vague adhering to describing what the jutsu did, but didn't tell him much on how it was created. What he did know was that through the means of a FuuinShiki-seal formula, and the use of his father's infamous tri-pronged kunai, Minato was able to utilize a space time Ninjutsu that allowed instantaneous teleportation. Naruto assumed the principle behind the technique was similar to the Kuchiyose No Jutsu-Summoning Jutsu in that it revolved around space time manipulation. So far he had only made a miniscule amount of progress in the jutsu, since he had nothing to go off of except a description on what it did and the Kunai with the Fuuin Shiki; though he was using a summoning array he had learn from his father to start as a basis.

He kept all of his new skills secret from the Toad Sannin on the basis that if he knew, it would stop. The drunken conversations Jiraiya had with the dead and him spilling his guts was how he learned things, both about the Sage and things from his spy network. It was how he knew what he knew about Akatsuki.

Most people did not understand that Jiraiya's spy networks were not just a few spies among the shinobi ranks, but the vast majority would be common people who would be undetected in information gathering. One of the best ways to increase his spy network was to gain the confidence of various bars owners and their staff in various cities. It was common for trained ninjas to brag or hint about missions or brag about their skill. Village loyalty is a secondary issue to a drunken ninja. This was why Jiraiya's natural tendency to perversion led to a perfect cover, as people assumed he was getting his fill of his vices. In fact many of these sessions were covers for information gathering.

A few months after he had started learning Fuuinjutsu in secret and had discovered how to perform the Hirashin technique, Jiraiya had noticed the change in him. He was a lot calmer than before, he still had a near limitless amount of energy, but he directed it into his training. Finding his father's letter had changed him. He realized the faults he had in his outlook towards being a Shinobi and strived to change them. He tried to be more intelligent as well, Jiraiya only had to explain a concept once and Naruto would usually get it unless it was built upon something he did not know about originally. It lead to questions from the Toad Sannin, but ones Naruto easily avoided. The Sage just chalked it up as late maturity.

Because of the changes, Jiraiya had him read a lot to bused him knowledge. The material read was extremely varying and not all of it was ninja related. He would read about anything from the use of hand signs, chakra control and manipulation, to politics, cooking and gardening. After the Fuuinjutsu training he had put himself through, he found it easier to learn. He seemed to soak up the knowledge like a sponge. That to was chalked up as late maturity.

He knew he had changed, even if it didn't show. He was becoming what his parents had hoped he would be. From his previous 4'11 frame, he gained much needed height, reaching 6'3. His body became packed with firm, hard muscle that rippled under his tanned skin with each movement. Various scars littering his body as a testament of the hardships he had seen in his life and on the trip, performing missions sent to them by Tsunade that were usually A or S ranked. His eyes remained the same, though their icy sapphire blue depths now held a piercing nature about them, rather than the previous total innocence. His whisker marks had become a little thicker and darker, but were not overly noticeable. His once short golden blonde hair had grown out leaving an unruly spiky mop on top of his head that hung down to his shoulders. All an all, he looked like an exact replica of his father.

Many enemies caught onto that, and Jiraiya took notice as well. He began acting weird, as if scared that Naruto might discover what he already knew. So he did something about his fears. He took a kunai to his hair, although not were he would notice. While the two were sparring, he staged a blow with one of the knives towards his head, redirecting it at the last moment to cut off part of his bangs. Afterward, they cut off the other side to make it even. After that, Jiraiya seemed to rest easy again. Although after the incident, things changed slightly.

The tall white haired man was more on guard. He didn't disclose information as easily any more, as if scared what the blonde might find out. He stopped drinking near him, so he was unable to find out more. But the damage was already done. He already knew more than he was suppose to… Not that anybody knew.

To hide the fact, he began to act like his old self again. He took to wearing orange again, although not as much as he used to. He hid his new true self. Made himself a mask that no one knew was there. It caused the Perverted Hermit to relax some, but he still acted suspicious of the blonde at times.

It almost came as a relief when their training trip ended. The people of the village weren't sure how to act about the blonde, and he decided to keep his mask up to them. It wasn't yet time for them to know the truth. The truth he learn because Jiraiya talks when he was drunk.

Short one shot about Jiraiya and Naruto. I'm aware that it doesn't make any sense, but I was tired when I wrote this. Hope you enjoy it… please review…

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